Pair saddling up to help good causes

GRANTING wishes to seriously ill children has spurred on a Cubbington man to pedal frantically for 54 miles from London to Brighton.

And to boost fundraising, Rob Slade is growing Bradley Wiggins-style sideburns and hopes they will be a bushy sight by the time he reaches the sea front on September 16. It is in aid of the Make-A-Wish Foundation UK which is the charity partner of Avon Insurance, of Stratford, where Rob works, which is owned by NFU Mutual.

Rob said: “I wanted to do a fundraising challenge for Make-A-Wish for each year of our three-year partnership.

“In 2010 I climbed Snowdon and in 2011 I did a skydive. This year I was looking for a new challenge, and the London to Brighton bike ride sounded just the job.

“At the moment I’m feeling fairly confident that the cycle ride is well within my capabilities. I don’t plan on breaking any records but I’d like to complete it within six hours.”

Rob’s fundraising target was to double the minimum sponsorship requirement of £100, and between his colleagues, friends and family he has already managed to raise more than £200.

To encourage sponsorship he set hs colleagues the challenge of donating more than £100 between them – inspired by Bradley Wiggins achievements in the Tour de France and the Olympics.

Rob said to his colleagues he would grow a pair of Wiggins-style sideburns if successful. This seemed to do the trick and within two days Rob hit his target.

He said: “I’ve been growing them for about a week now and they’re starting to fill out.”

To sponsor Rob visit www.doitforcharity.com/www.doitforcharity/rob2012

· A FATHER of two is gearing up for a 300-mile cycle ride to raise money for Leamington-based development charity Cord.

Alex Cook, of Radford Road, Leamington, has already used pedal power to help Cord - generating electricity to make smoothies to sell.

He will set off from Paris on Monday and cycle more than 300 miles in four days, riding for up to eight hours a day.

The money he raises will help Cord with its peace-building work, help-ing people affected by con-flict in Africa and Asia.

The ride will take him through the French countryside and into Switzerland, ending in Geneva, and there’s even a climb used in the Tour de France.

Despite having a new baby in the family, civil servant Alex, aged 33, has trained rigorously since signing up for the challenge in November.

And as part of stamina building, Alex joined the 100-mile Ride with Brad event in Lancashire.

It took in hills on one of Bradley Wiggins’ training routes in preparation for his Tour de France victory.

Alex said: “I’ve done more than 1,800 miles of training in the last few months, spending about 140 hours sat on a bicycle.

“Cord does a fantastic job of making a sustainable difference in some of the most challenging places in the world.

“The great thing about supporting a smaller charity is that I know the money I raise will make a big difference to Cord.”

Cord fundraising manager Susan Barlow said “Alex has wowed us with his inventive fundraising ideas in the lead up to his ride - he even sold smoothies that had been made by pedal power.”

To sponsor Alex visit www.justgiving.com/StillOneSprocketShort